How low can the Kindle Fire go?

As a consumer, you have to love price wars, so long as both companies competing for your dollars stay in business. Right now there's a price war brewing between Barnes & Noble with its Nook HD and HD+ tablets, and Amazon with its Kindle Fire HD tablets, the latter of which is now on sale starting at $169. This is a temporary price cut and if you're a Prime member, you get free 2-day shipping to boot.

How low can you go?

HTC was once a mighty vessel sailing the mobile seas, and like Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Titanic, the company must have felt it was the king of the world. We all know how that movie ends, and just as the real Titantic was doomed to sink, things aren't looking so well for HTC. The Taiwanese phone maker saw its profits plummet 83 percent in the second quarter of 2013.

A smartwatch and a Nexus Q successor also said to be in the works

While most regular companies have to be mindful of the perils of spreading themselves too thin, the colossal likes of Google, Apple and Microsoft can seemingly do whatever they want, whenever they want without any such worries. For instance, Google, best known for its search algorithms, operating systems, smartphones, tablets and mostly decent April Fool’s jokes, is now said to be building an Android-based game console.

Giveaway at ISTE 2013 will be followed by discount offer during the back-to-school season

After giving them away to TechED attendees for just $99 a pop, Microsoft is now getting ready to sell the Surface RT to K12 and higher education institutions at a slightly higher, yet pretty “aggressive”, price of $199. Given all the reports of a large unsold inventory and recent murmurs about a Qualcomm-powered version, it seems as if Microsoft is trying to get rid of all those unsold Surface RT tablets in a jiffy.

A phone that's not afraid of a little water.

The thing about smartphones is that even though they're offered at a large discount when signing up for a two-year service agreement, if you don't opt for an accidental damage warranty, you could be looking at a costly replacement if something goes wrong. What happens if you're sitting by the pool and your Galaxy S4 decides to squirt out of your hand and go for a swim? The outcome isn't likely a good one (try sticking it in a bag or bowl of uncooked rice for a day or two). However, Samsung's Galaxy S4 Active isn't quite as fragile.

Microsoft Points being phased out.

Microsoft earlier this week finally revealed details about its next generation game console, the Xbox One, at the Electronics Entertainment Expo (E3), setting in motion an eventual showdown this holiday shopping season with Sony's PlayStation 4 (and Nintendo's Wii U, though that one's been out for awhile). Most of the unveiling focused on upcoming games, though one tidbit that's been mostly overlooked is that Microsoft is finally moving away from its Microsoft Points system in favor of real currency.

Low cost tablets are fast becoming a reality.

It took some time, but Google's hardware partners finally got the memo that consumers are interested in affordable Android tablets, and the lower the price the better. That's not to say Android can't compete with the iPad at the $499 tier and above, but by and large, consumers hoped Android would usher in affordable slates, and that's what we've been seeing this past year. Tablet makers may take it to a whole new level, however, by introducing $99 Android slates later this year.

Save up to $120!

Barnes & Noble is pushing hard to make its Nook HD (7 inches) and Nook HD+ (8.9 inches) tablets the go-to gift item for Father's Day by rolling out its deepest discounts to date. That's saying something, considering you could have saved anywhere from $50 to $90 on a Nook HD/HD+ for Mother's Day. This time around the discounts run as deep as $120, provided you make a purchase between now and June 16, 2013.

Range starts at $39.99

The Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is right around the corner and gaming peripheral maker SteelSeries is super excited about the new products that it has lined up for this year’s event. The company will be showcasing a trio of headsets at E3 2013, which gets underway on June 11, SteelSeries announced in a press release Thursday.

Global launch planned for this summer

A product first showcased at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show, the Wikipad gaming tablet is so woefully behind its original release schedule that all but the most optimistic people believed Wikipad, Inc., the Los Angeles-based company behind the tablet, when it promised a spring 2013 debut back in February this year. It now seems that the company is indeed pretty serious about avoiding the ignominy of perishing without bringing a single product to the market.